An Italian security expert who met with a former KGB agent the day he fell ill with radiation poisoning was under British protection and being tested for contamination Tuesday, and officials ordered tests for eight people who exhibited possible symptoms.

An Italian academic who met with a former Russian spy the day he fell ill with radiation poisoning was being tested for contamination and was under security protection Tuesday in London, as the unsolved death cast a shadow over Anglo-Russian relations.

Bloodied and bewildered strangers led each other from the wreckage of the London bombings last July 7. A year later, many of them have forged close bonds sharing their experiences in a network of blogs.

On Nov. 24, the government convinced that the mandatory closing time has led to binge drinking and public drunkenness will end nearly a century of tradition and allow pubs to remain open longer, theoretically up to 24 hours.

Password theft, hacking into the school computer network to sabotage or steal classmates' work, surfing the Web for old term papers, conversing with strangers in chat rooms and downloading free music off file-sharing services are just some of the extracurricular activities students are getting up to during school hours.